A Poor Man's Home
by Kr1411
Summary: Barry wasn't always like this. He wasn't always stuck on the streets. Olivarry.


Barry wasn't always like this. He wasn't always stuck on the streets.

When Barry was eleven, his mother was killed by his father, and he was put into a foster home. No one wanted a kid who witnessed his mom get murdered, so his whole life was spent going from foster home to foster home.

Eventually he found one, with a nice family named the West's. They had a girl a year older than him, and a single father. The girl, Iris, was nice and understanding about his situation. Her father, Joe, was a cop, and a good one at that.

When Iris turned eighteen, and Barry seventeen, Joe got shot in his left leg, and it gave him nerve damage, forcing him to be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Barry gave Joe his college fund money for the medical bills, and for them to make a living, since Joe could no longer work. But Joe being unable to work meant he was unable to take care of a foster kid, and Barry was forced into another home.

This home gave him no money, and used him as a slave until his eighteenth birthday, when they kicked him out. Barry tried to find a job, but he couldn't, no one would hire a homeless millennial.

Soon, Barry resorted to begging, which got him enough money to buy a cheap blanket for the nights he had to sleep on the streets.

Barry would spend every day looking for a homeless shelter, but he couldn't find one. It wasn't like there weren't very many homeless people in Central; just no one cared enough to start one.

Barry eventually found a good spot to make a makeshift home - a park bench under a light. He had his blanket, and a pillow some kid left at the park, so the bench was perfect for him. He had a light, and the light provided a very minimal amount of warmth, but Barry was always afraid of the dark. Even out here, where it was probably safer to stay in the dark, he was afraid.

One day, Barry saw Oliver Queen walk by the park with his sister, Thea Queen, who was looking like an actual queen. Thea was complaining about getting her hair dirty with the amount of _walking_ they had to do, and Barry wanted nothing more than to throw a rock at her. He couldn't remember the last time he ate something other than a small sand which some old guy started giving him everyday, and he hasn't been able to shower since he got kicked out - which was nearly half a year ago.

Thea saw him, and she curled her lip. "Ollie, look at that man, he looks awful," she said to Oliver, and Oliver started to walk over to him.

Barry saw Oliver walking over to him, and he curled up into his blanket, ashamed of his life compared to the _Oliver Queen._

Oliver squatted down to Barry, and pulled out his wallet, handing him a 100 dollar bill without saying anything.

"Winter's coming soon, you should buy yourself something warm," Oliver told him, but Barry was more focused on the _100 dollar bill._

He has never felt more rich in his life, and that was with his college fund.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Barry said, smiling widely at the money as if he just won the lottery. Oliver smiled.

"It's the least I could do," he said, before walking back to Thea.

Barry smiled and looked at the dollar bill one more time, before putting it in his dirty pocket. He definitely had to use it as emergency money.

The next day, Oliver was sure to go back to the park, to see if the man was still there. Upon finding he was, Oliver went out and bought him a coffee and a blueberry muffin, hoping he wasn't gluten-free.

Oliver went back to the park, and walked up to the man, who looked like he was just beginning to wake up. He looked over at Oliver, a confused look on his face, and sat up.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked, voice raspy. He probably had a cold from the weather, it was slowly getting colder by the day.

"I wanted to bring you something," Oliver said, and handed him the bag with the muffin and the coffee.

The man's eyes widened, and he looked in the bag, a smile growing on his face. "Is this really for me?" He asked in disbelief. Oliver nodded. "I wasn't sure if you were gluten free, if you are, I can go back and-" The man cut him off by confirming he wasn't.

He took a sip of the coffee, and Oliver swore he could see happy tears coming from the man's eyes as he swallowed it. "Oh my god, that…" The man laughed, and smiled so brightly he put the sun to shame. He looked over at Oliver and said, "Thank you," over and over again, and Oliver smiled. It felt good making someone's day like this, just by doing simple things. After his time on the island, it really put into perspective how much he abused his money.

"What's your name?" Oliver asked, sitting on the bench.

"Barry, Barry Allen," The man said, reaching into the bag and pulling out the muffin. He took a bite and closed his eyes, looking like he just took a bite out of heaven.

"Oliver Queen," Oliver said, and Barry nodded. "I know, back when I was in my foster home, you were one of the few things my foster sister wouldn't shut up about," Barry said, and took another sip of coffee. Oliver turned red.

"Was this a while ago? Because I'm not the man I used to be," Oliver said, and Barry nodded. "I can tell," he said, "because before I _know_ you would not have brought me this."

Oliver smiled, and got up. "I should probably get going, but I'll be back, don't worry," Oliver said, and Barry nodded. "Thanks again for bringing me this," he said, and Oliver smiled. "No need to thank me, just enjoy it" he said, before walking away.

Oliver came back later that day, with take-out chinese and a new, expensive looking blanket. Barry gaped at the sight of that.

"That's not for me, is it?" Barry asked in awe, and Oliver handed him the blanket. "Like I said yesterday, it's getting colder," he said, and Barry ran a hand over the new blanket.

It was so _soft_ , and _thick_ , and _warm_. Barry wrapped himself up, and he felt a warm feeling he hasn't felt since he was forced out of the West home.

"Oliver, I-" Barry said, unwrapping himself to give the blanket back, but Oliver held a hand out.

"No, it's all yours, don't feel bad," Oliver said, before sitting down next to him and giving him the Chinese.

"I got you some dinner too, it's from one of my favorite restaurants," Oliver said, and Barry looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Are you serious?" He asked in amazement, and Oliver nodded, handing him a fork.

"It's all yours," he said, as Barry took the fork.

Barry looked at the fork and at Oliver, eyebrows wide in shock. "You don't have to do this, you know," he said, but taking a bite out of the Chinese anyway. Barry always felt bad when people would give him simple things like food, but he liked to accept it anyway. Survival of the fittest, right?

Oliver smiled. "I know, but I want to. Since I was marooned on the island five years ago, I got a small taste of what it's like, and I want to do what I can to help you," he said, and Barry beamed at him.

"You're a lot nicer than what the tabloids say, you know," Barry said, before taking another giant bite of the Chinese.

Oliver's smile faltered. "When you're rich, they'll do whatever it takes to expose the worst parts of you," he said.

Barry put a hand on Oliver. "What matters is what those who /really know you think, not a shit ton of strangers," he said, as the sun began to go down.

"It's going to get dark soon, you should probably get going," Barry said sadly. He didn't want Oliver to leave, no one really ever stopped to actually… _talk_ to him.

Oliver nodded. "Be safe," Oliver told Barry, and Barry smiled. "I'll try," he said.

Oliver stood up, and began to walk, and Barry shouted out one more quick, "Thank you," before finishing off the chinese.

For the next few weeks, Oliver would bring some sort of food to Barry, and they would just sit and talk. Oliver learned Barry's backstory, and Barry learned the better parts of Oliver's.

Eventually his family took notice of this. One night, when Oliver was about to go and get food for Barry, Moira asked him, "Where do you sneak off to every night, Oliver?"

Oliver stopped right before he opened the door and said, "To see a friend."

Thea, who chose that moment to enter the room, commented, "He's probably out seeing his homeless buddy," to which Moira raised an eyebrow.

Oliver turned around. "He's just like the rest of us, he just didn't have a family that cared enough for him in the end," and walked out the door.

Eventually, Moira did have a talk with Oliver about this, but it really meant nothing to either of them.

Fall came and went, and snow was starting to fall. With the drop in temperature, Oliver stopped visiting Barry as much, now he only went a few times a week.

Barry was doing whatever it took to stay warm, but no matter how tight he curled into his blanket, he would never be able to stay warm enough.

He started to sleep under his bench, which barely helped. All it did was make sure he woke up with less snow on him.

Barry barely noticed when his fingers started to turn blue from the cold, and when he started constantly shivering.

He did notice that Oliver was taking a winter break from seeing him, and that's what hurt him more.

All that really mattered at this point, though, was staying alive. And he wasn't sure he could manage that this winter.

Oliver was never one to pay attention to the news, but when they started talking about staying indoors, and the abnormally cold winter coming, he immediately started to pay attention.

Apparently, this year's winter was supposed to be the worst one in the decade so far, and people were highly recommended to stay indoors.

Which is why the first thing Oliver did after hearing that, was go outside, with one thing on his mind.

 _Barry_.

Oliver ran all the way to the park, and when he didn't see Barry, he started to worry. It was heavily snowing, Barry could be anywhere at this point.

Oliver was about to search the rest of the park when he saw movement under the bench. Oliver dug out the snow, and pulled out an unconscious Barry.

Barry was wrapped up in his blanked, but it wasn't helping since it was covered in snow. He was shivering, and his lips definitely looked blue.

Oliver didn't think twice about scooping Barry up in his arms and running him back to his house. Barry felt cold, way too cold.

When he got to the house, he heard Moira and Thea's protests to bring him into the house, but Oliver didn't care. He got Barry to his bathroom and started running a hot bath, and put Barry in, after awkwardly undressing him. He waited to make sure Barry's head wouldn't go under the water before going to get him a change of clothes.

He was on his way back when he heard someone say his name.

" _Oliver_."

Moira was standing right by the bathroom door, a concerned look on her face. Oliver ignored her and went back to Barry, splashing a small bit of water on his face to get the dirt off.

Moira looked at him sorrowfully. "It's really nice, what you're doing for this boy, but we can't keep him," Moira said behind Oliver. Oliver turned around.

"Mom, he's a human, we don't _keep_ him," Oliver said. Moira sighed.

"We don't know if he'll steal from us, take our money," she said. Oliver scoffed at this.

"When I brought him one of those big, fuzzy blankets you bought me and Thea all those years ago, he felt awful for making me spend money on him," Oliver said, and turned back to Barry, scooping up some water and dumping it in his hair. He got some shampoo and drizzled it in his hair, trying to get all the dirt and grime out.

"That was one time, Oliver, and you can never trust a homeless person," Moira said, surely.

"Yes you can, mom," Oliver retorted. "Barry is the nicest guy I've ever met, and I'm not saying that lightly," he said. Moira sighed.

"He can stay with us for the winter," she decided, before turning around and leaving. Oliver beamed, before going back to washing Barry.

Barry woke up a few hours later in a bed. A _bed_. He knew Heaven was filled with amazing things, but he didn't expect to be dead quite yet.

Barry also felt _warm_ , a feeling he hasn't felt in a while. He felt clean, and he looked down to find a different shirt on, and a different pair of pants, both _clean._ He looked down a little further, and… he had clean underwear too.

He got up, wary of his surroundings, and looked in a mirror. His hair, his _hair,_ it looked so… clean, but so long, and he couldn't tell if he looked better or worse than when he got kicked out of the Smythe's household - his last foster family.

Barry also noticed someone shaved him. His face felt so free, so much lighter, it was _amazing_.

Barry was interrupted by a knock on the door. He turned around and saw Oliver, smiling at him. Barry's eyes widened.

"You did this?" He asked in awe. Oliver nodded. Barry then ran over to Oliver, embracing him in a hug. Oliver, while surprised, hugged back.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Barry said, tears of joy coming to his eyes. "You have no idea how awful it was out there, I thought I was going to die soon," he continued, "and I feel like I should owe you something, you've done so much for me," he finished, letting go and looking at Oliver. "Thank you, so much," he concluded.

Oliver smiled, and said a quick, "Of course," before grabbing his hand and taking him to the kitchen.

On the table, there was _so much food_. Barry's eyes widened at the sight of it. "Oliver, I can't eat your food," he said, sounding shocked.

Oliver put his arm around Barry. "I had this made for you, you need it way more than I do," Oliver assured him. Barry walked around the table, still not quite believing what he was seeing, and slowly grabbed a chicken leg off of one of the plates and took a bite out of it.

It tasted better than anything he could remember. He took another bite, and another, until he finished it. Barry just wanted to cry, jump, and shout in happiness. This had to be a dream.

Over the course of the winter, Moira and Thea have grown to like Barry very much, and Oliver was glad. But he was growing to like Barry, in a different was than he already had.

Barry's smile, it could light up the room. He was always so happy, taking advantage of every little thing, every second he spent in their home, and it was always heart-warming when he would ask himself if it was all really happening, even though he's been living with them for five months.

Moira even took back her deal with Oliver, and said Barry could stay as long as he wanted. Oliver was pleased with this.

One day, towards the end of the winter, Barry started to get the feeling he was going to get kicked out. So, when Oliver asked to talk to him, Barry started preparing himself for the worst.

"Barry," Oliver started, not sure how to say this. Today was the day he decided to confess his feelings for Barry, although he was nervous. He wasn't even sure if Barry liked men, so this was a huge risk, and Barry could move out if this went wrong.

"I… I like you," he said, and before Barry said anything, he continued. "I don't know when, but I've liked you for a while, but I've been to afraid to say anything, but I can't hold it in an more and-" Oliver was cut off by a pair of lips on his own.

"I like you too, Oliver. I have ever since you took me in. I knew you were a good guy, but… you took a homeless guy, and… I guess after you gave me a home, I saw you in a new light," Barry smiled.

Oliver smiled, and grabbed him into another kiss. Maybe things weren't that bad, after all.

Two years later, after Barry and Oliver finally moved into their new apartment, Barry embraced Oliver into a hug.

"I can't believe we made it here," he said into his boyfriend's chest, and Oliver pulled Barry off of him, and said, "Than you won't believe this."

Oliver got down on one knee, and pulled out a red velvet box. Before Barry could realise what was going on, Oliver opened the box, revealing a nice, shiny ring.

"Barry Allen, the last two years have been so much better since you were there with me, and I want you to be there with me for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?" Oliver asked, and Barry had his hands over his mouth. He was silent for a small moment, before saying a quick, "yes," and putting his hand out. Oliver smiled, and practically jumped up and kissed him.

And Barry Allen was never happier that he was once homeless. If he was kept in foster care, he wouldn't have been here today.

And being here was all that mattered.


End file.
